System and method for automated customer calling

ABSTRACT

A system and method for providing an operator with automated calling functions allows the operator to be on the line when a customer call is placed so that a sales call can begin immediately if a customer answers the call. The system and method could be configured so that the operator can place calls automatically be selecting customers from customer call lists. The system and method may also allow the operator to cause a pre-recorded audio message to be played to a first customer, or the first customer&#39;s answering machine, while the operator proceeds to a second customer call placed over a second telephone line.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/656,026, filed on Sep. 6, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,744,881.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to automated calling systems used by salespersonnel and other telephone operators to place a series of telephonecalls to existing or potential customers.

2. Background of the Related Art

Various computer based automated calling systems have been created topartially automate the process of calling a plurality of customers.Typically, multiple operators will be connected to a central switchingdevice. The central switching device will automatically place telephonecalls to individual customers. If a customer, rather than an answeringmachine/service, actually answers a telephone call, the call is thenconnected with an operator's telephony device so that the operator canbegin a sales call. If a customer's answering machine or answeringservice answers the automatically placed telephone call, the automatedcalling system will hang up. Alternatively, if an answering machine oranswering service answers one of the automatically placed telephonecalls, the calling system may wait for the greeting to end, then play apre-recorded message to the customer's answering machine.

These types of automated calling systems include computer software whichis designed to discriminate between calls answered by live customers,and calls answered by a customer's answering machine/service. If theautomated calling service determines that a live person has answered acall, the telephone line must be switched to a free operator who thenbegins the customer sales call. There is inevitably a delay periodbetween the time that the customer answers the telephone, and the timethat an operator is able to pick up the line and begin the sales call.Customers who have become familiar with these calling systems willimmediately hang up their telephone if they perceive that a delay isoccurring while their telephone line is switched to a sales operator.This results in missed sales opportunities.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention is a system and method for providing automated callingservices to a telephone operator. A calling system embodying theinvention is configured to automatically place a telephone call to acustomer in response to an operator's command. However, unlike prior artsystems, with a system embodying the invention, the operator's telephonydevice is actually connected to the telephone line while the sales callis being automatically placed so that the operator can immediately beginthe sales call if a live customer answers the telephone call. If acustomer's answering service answers the telephone call, the operatorcan simply select the next customer on his call list, and the callingsystem will automatically place a telephone call to the second customer,and switch the operator's telephony device to the second call. Thisensures that the operator is online and can begin a sales call with thesecond customer is a live customer answers the second call.

An automated calling system embodying the invention may also beconfigured to play a pre-recorded message over a telephone lineconnected to a customer, or a customer's answering machine/service. Thiscould occur in at least two different situations.

In one situation, an operator could conduct a telephone call with a livecustomer, then inform the customer that he would like to have thecustomer listen to a pre-recorded message. If the customer agrees, theoperator can then move onto a new sales call with a second customer, andinstruct the automated calling system to begin to play the pre-recordedmessage to the first customer. This requires that the calling systemmaintain the connection to the first customer's telephone line while itplays the pre-recorded message, and simultaneously connect theoperator's telephony device to a second telephone line so that a secondsales call can be placed to a second customer.

In a second scenario, if a first customer's answering machine answers asales call, the operator can instruct the automated calling system toplay a pre-recorded message to the first customer's answering machinewhile the operator moves on to a second customer. This would cause theautomated calling system to connect the operator's telephony device to asecond telephone line and to automatically place a telephone call to thesecond customer using the second telephone line. The calling systemwould also simultaneously monitor the first customer's telephone line todetermine when the first customer's answering machine message ends. Oncethe answering machine has completed its message, the system would play apre-recorded message to the first customer's answering machine over thefirst telephone line, and then terminate the call.

A system and method embodying the present invention allows for telephonecalls to be automatically placed using a customer calling list. Inaddition, because the operator is on the line as each call is beingplaced, customers are less likely to hang up. An automated callingsystem embodying the invention also provides the ability to playpre-recorded messages to live customers, or customer answering machines,while the operator moves on to a new telephone call. This increases theefficiency of the operator.

Additional advantages, objects, and features of the invention will beset forth in part in the description which follows and in part willbecome apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art uponexamination of the following or may be learned from practice of theinvention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realizedand attained as particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be described in conjunction with the followingdrawing figures, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements,and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a flow chart illustrating steps of a method embodying theinvention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating elements of an automated callingsystem embodying the invention connected to an operator's station, and aplurality of customers;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating elements of a software programembodying the invention;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an automated calling systemembodying the invention connected to an operator's station; and

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating another automated calling systemembodying the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A method embodying the invention is illustrated in FIG. 1. In themethod, an operator would first select a customer to be called in stepS100. In preferred embodiments of the invention, an operator wouldcreate an electronic customer call list that would be stored in acomputer memory. The step of selecting a customer could compriseselecting a customer from a previously created customer call list usinga computer pointing device.

The selected customer's telephone number would automatically be calledusing a first telephone line in step S110. An operator's telephonydevice would be connected to the first telephone line so that theoperator could immediately begin a sales call with the customer if alive customer answers the telephone call. The operator would determine,in step S120, if a live customer has answered the call, or if acustomer's answering machine or answering service has answered the call.

If a live customer answers the call, in step S130, the operator wouldactually conduct a sales call with the customer. After the call has beencompleted, the operator could instruct the calling system to play apre-recorded message to the customer in step S135. Alternatively, theoperator could simply select a new customer in step S100, and the methodwould be repeated. If the operator instructs the system to play apre-recorded message to the customer in step S135, the message would beplayed using the telephone line connected to the first customer, but theoperator would then proceed to select a new customer, in step S100,while the pre-recorded message is being played. The system wouldautomatically place a new call to a newly selected customer using a newtelephone line, and the telephony device would be connected to the newtelephone line. This allows the operator to begin a new sales call witha new customer while the pre-recorded message is still being played tothe first customer.

If, in step S120, the operator determines that a customer's answeringmachine or answering service has answered the call, the operator wouldimmediately select a new customer in step S140. This could cause thesystem to immediately place a new telephone call to the new customer instep S110. The operator's telephony device would be connected to the newcall so that the operator could immediately begin a sales call with thenew customer.

Alternatively, if the operator so desires, a pre-recorded audio messagecould be played to the first customer's answering machine/service instep S150. This would occur using the first telephone line. At the sametime that the pre-recorded audio message is played to the firstcustomer's answering machine over the first telephone line, a telephonecall would be automatically placed to the new selected customer using asecond telephone line in step S110. This would allow the operator toconduct a call with the second customer using the second telephone line,at the same time that the pre-recorded audio message is played to thefirst customer's answering machine over the first telephone line.

FIG. 2 provides a block diagram illustrating how an automated callingsystem embodying the invention could be connected to various otherelements to provide an operator with automated calling functions. Asshown in FIG. 2, the automated calling system 290 could be connected tothe Internet or any other type of computer network 280. The automatedcalling system would also be connected to a publically switchedtelephone network (PSTN) 270. The automated calling system 290 would becapable of connecting to multiple telephone lines through the PSTN 270.

An operator's station would include an operator's computer 200 and atelephony device 220. The operator's computer 200 would be connected tothe Internet/network 280, so that communications could be exchangedbetween the operator's computer 200 and the automated calling system290. In preferred embodiments of the invention, the automated callingsystem 290 could include or be connected to an Internet server, whichwould provide a means for the operator to communicate with the automatedcalling system 290. In this instance, an Internet browser program couldbe resident on the operator's computer 200. The Internet browser programwould then be used to facilitate communications between the automatedcalling system 290 and the operator via the Internet/network 280. Inother embodiments of the invention, specialized software resident on theoperator's computer 200 could be used to communicate with an to controlthe automated calling system 290 via the Internet or computer network280.

The operator's telephony device 220 could be connected to the PSTN 270.The operator's telephony device could comprise a standard landlinetelephone, a wireless telephone, or any type of device that would allowthe operator to conduct communications over a PSTN 270. A headset 225could also be connected to the telephony device 220, or the PSTN 270, toprovide the operator with hands-free operations.

In other embodiments of the invention, the operator's telephony device220 could communicate with the automated calling system 290 via theInternet/network 280. This could involve exchanging packetized digitaldata between the operator's telephony device 220 and the automatedcalling system 290. In this instance, the operator's telephony devicecould be directly coupled to the Internet/network 280, or the operator'scomputer 200 could be used as an interface, as reflected by the dashedlines in FIG. 2.

Regardless of how the operator's computer 200 communicates with theautomated calling system 290, the operator would use the computer 200 tosend commands to the automated calling system 290. The commands would beused to cause the automated calling system 290 to place telephone callsto selected customers, and to cause the automated calling system to playpre-recorded audio messages to a customer or a customer's answeringmachine.

As also shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of customer answering machines 310,330, 350 and corresponding customer telephones 300, 320, 340 could beconnected to the PSTN 270. Although FIG. 2 depicts the customertelephones connected to the PSTN 270 via answering machines, a customertelephone could be directly connected to the PSTN 270. Also, manytelephone companies now provide an answering service which does notrequire the use of a separate answering machine. In this instance, thecustomer telephones would be directly connected to the PSTN 270, andautomated systems resident at the telephone company would provide theanswering service.

An operator could access the automated calling system 290 using theoperator's computer 200 to create or edit customer calling lists. Thus,customer calling lists could be stored, in an electronic form, on theautomated calling system 290. In alternative embodiments, a particularoperator's customer calling lists could be stored in an electronic formon the operator's computer 200. Each calling list would include thetelephone numbers and possibly the names of a plurality of customers.The customer calling lists could be arranged according to geographiclocations, or according to some other common customer characteristics.

When the operator wishes to use the automated calling system 290 forautomated calling services, the operator would first use the operator'scomputer 200 to access the automated calling system 290. The operatorwould instruct the automated calling system 290 to connect to theoperator's telephony device 220. This could be done by calling theoperator's telephony device 220 through the PSTN 270, or by establishinga link to the operator's telephony device 220 via the Internet/network280. In any event, this would establish a link between the operator'stelephony device 220 and the automated calling system 290.

The operator could use the automated calling system to record an audiomessage which can be played to customers or customer answering machines.Alternatively, the operator could simply access a customer call list andbegin making customer calls.

Once the link is established between the automated calling system 290and the operator's telephony device 220, an interactive voice responsesystem could be used by the automated calling system 290 to communicatewith the operator. Alternatively, the operator could continue toinstruct the automated calling system via commands entered through theoperator's computer 200.

To place a telephone call to a particular customer, the operator couldfirst access a customer call list. This could be done by retrieving afile that is displayed on a screen of the operator's computer 200. Theoperator could then select a first customer from the call list. Thiscould be done by using a selecting device, such as a mouse, that is partof the operator's computer 200. The automated calling system 290 wouldthen automatically place a telephone call to the selected customer usinga first telephone line T1. The automated calling system 290 would thenconnect the operator's telephony device 220 to the first telephone lineT1 so that the operator can immediately communicate with the customer ifa live customer actually picks up and answers the telephone call withcustomer No. 1's telephone 300.

Assuming a live person answers the first call, the operator wouldconduct a sales call. Once the sales call has been completed, theoperator could execute a command instructing the automated callingsystem 290 to disconnect the telephone call. Alternatively, the operatorcould ask the customer if he would like to listen to a pre-recordedaudio message. If the customer agrees, the operator could use theoperator's computer 200 to instruct the automated calling system 290 toplay a pre-recorded audio message to customer No. 1's telephone 300 viatelephone line T1. At the same time the audio message is being played tocustomer No 1's telephone 300 via the first telephone line T1, theoperator could instruct the automated calling system 290 to place asecond telephone call to customer No. 2's telephone 320 using a secondtelephone line T2. The automated calling system 290 would place thetelephone call to customer No. 2, and then connect the operator'stelephony device 200 to the second telephone line T2 so that theoperator can immediately begin to communicate with customer No. 2 ifthat customer answers the new call.

If, instead of a live customer, customer No. 2's answering machine 330answers the second telephone call, the operator could sue the operator'scomputer 200 to instruct the automated calling system 290 to play apre-recorded audio message to customer No. 2's answering machine 330,while at the same time placing a new telephone call to a third customerusing a third telephone line T3. This would allow a pre-recorded audiomessage to be played to customer No. 2's answering machine 330 at thesame time the operator's telephony device 220 is connected to a thirdcustomer's telephone 340 via a third telephone line T3.

The automated calling system 290 is designed so that it can maintainlinks to multiple customer telephones or answering machines at the sametime. Because the operator's telephony device 220 is also connected tothe automated calling system 290, the operator's telephony device 220can be switched between any of the calls placed to customer telephones.This means that it is possible for the automated calling system 290 tobe playing multiple pre-recorded messages to multiple live customers orcustomer answering machines while the operator moves on to new salescalls. This maximizes the operator's efficiency. At the same time, theautomated calling system 290 can ensure that the operator is actuallyconnected to the customer's line each time a new call is placed. Thismeans that there will be no delay period between the time that acustomer answers a call, and the time that the operator can begin thesales call.

In preferred embodiments of the invention, a display screen of theoperator's computer 200 would display a customer call list while theoperator is conducting his sales calls. A pointing device of theoperator's computer 200 would be used by the operator to selectcustomers, and to instruct the automated calling system 290 to performvarious functions. For instance, selecting an entry of a customer calllist could cause the system to automatically place a call to thatcustomer, and to connect the operator's telephony device to thecustomer's line. When the operator has completed a sales call, selectinga new entry on the customer call list could cause the calling system toautomatically terminate the first call, automatically call the newselected customer and automatically connect the operator's telephonydevice 220 to the new call.

If a customer's answering machine picks up a call, selecting a new entryon the customer call list could also cause the calling system 290 toautomatically place a new call to the newly selected customer, to switchthe operator's telephony device 220 to the new call, while at the sametime maintaining the link to the first customer's answering machine.Once the answering machine completes its message, the calling system 290could play a pre-recorded message to the first customer's answeringmachine before disconnecting from the first customer's telephone line.

As mentioned above, the automated calling system 290 could include anInternet server. In this instance, an operator's computer could accessthe automated calling system using an Internet browser. The automatedcalling system could also include a telephony switching device forswitching an operator's telephony device 220 between a plurality ofdifferent telephone lines connected to the PSTN 270.

In alternative embodiments, software for implementing the automatedcalling system 290 could be fully or partially resident on theoperator's computer 200. This software would allow the operator toperform various automated calling functions by executing commands usingthe operator's computer. The software resident on the operator'scomputer would then communicate with other elements of the automatedcalling system via a computer network or the Internet. The elements ofthe automated calling system separate from the operator's computer couldinclude a telephony switching device that is connected to the PSTN 270.

Regardless of where the software is resident, automated calling systemsoftware embodying the invention would include various submodules. Asshown in FIG. 3, calling system software 400 embodying the inventioncould include a display module 410, a PSTN interface and switchingmodule 420, a recording and playback module 430, an Internet/networkinterface module 440, and a customer call list editing module 450.

The display module 410 would be used to display a customer call list toan operator. The display module could also provide an operator with theability to select customers from a displayed customer call list toinstruct the calling system to place automated telephone calls toselected customers. The display module could also be used to displaycommand menus that can be used to instruct the automated calling system290 to take certain actions.

The PSTN interface and switching module 420 would be used to placetelephone calls to selected customers, and to control the devices towhich a particular telephone line is connected. For instance, when atelephone call is first placed to a customer, the PSTN interface andswitching module 420 would ensure that the operator's telephony device220 is connected to the telephone line. This ensures that the operatorcan immediately begin to conduct a call with the customer should a livecustomer answer. Alternatively, if a customer's answering machine wereto answer a call, the PSTN interface and switching module 420 could beused to switch the telephone line over to an audio playing device sothat a pre-recorded audio message could be played to a customer'sanswering device. The PSTN interface and switching module 420 could alsobe used to switch the operator's telephony device 220 over to a newtelephone line, and to place an automated call to a second customer onthe new telephone line.

The recording and playback module 430 would be used to record an audiomessage which is to be played to customers or customer answeringmachines. The recording and playback module 430 would allow the operatorto speak his audio message into the operator's telephony device 220, andthe message would be recorded on a recording device. The recordingdevice could include any type of audio recording device includingmagnetic or optical tapes or disk drives. The recording and playbackmodule 430 could be configured to convert an audio message into adigital format which is then stored on a computer data storage device.The recording and playback module 430 could also be configured to accessdigital data files containing an audio message, and to play these audiomessages to a customer or a customer's answering machine over atelephone line.

The Internet/network interface module 440 would be used to effectcommunications between an operator's computer 200 and other portions ofthe automated calling system. As explained above, an operator's computer200 could be coupled to other elements of the automated calling systemvia a computer network, or over the Internet. If the Internet is usedfor communications, the Internet/network interface module 440 couldinclude the software necessary for an Internet browser on the operator'scomputer 200 to interact with the automated calling system.

The customer call list editing module 450 would be used to create listsof customers and associated customer telephone numbers, and to editthose lists. As mentioned above, the customer calling lists could beresident on the automated calling system itself, or such lists could bestored on operator computers.

As mentioned above, in some embodiments of the invention, the operator'stelephony device 220 could be connected to an automated calling system290 via a network or the Internet 280, as shown in FIG. 4. In thisinstance, it would not be necessary for the automated calling system 290to communicate with an operator's telephony device 220 over a PSTN.Instead, the operator's telephony device 220, along with the operator'scomputer 200, would be connected to the automated calling system 290 viaa network or Internet interface. As data transfer rates over theInternet increase, the inventors expect an embodiment as shown in FIG. 4to become more viable.

In an embodiment of the invention as depicted in FIG. 4, the automatedcalling system 290 would communicate with customer telephones oranswering machines/services over a PSTN in the same way as theembodiments as described above. However, the automated calling system290 would switch the operator's telephony device 220 to differenttelephone lines of the PSTN via a network/Internet interface 280. Thiscould involve sending digital data over the network/Internet connectionin a form similar to the way digital wireless telephones communicatevoice information. In this instance, the operator's telephony device 220could be connected to the operator's computer 200, and the operator'scomputer 200 and associated software could provide an interface betweenthe automated calling system 290 and the operator's telephony device220.

Also, in this embodiment, the operator's telephony device 220 could takethe form of a microphone and speakers connected to the operator'scomputer 200. In this instance, the telephony device 220 could simply beinterfaced to the operator's computer 200, and the automated callingsystem 290 would then communicate with the operator's computer 200 viathe network/Internet 280. This would eliminate the need for a separateconnection between the network/Internet 280 and the telephony device220.

In yet another embodiment of the invention, as shown in FIG. 5, theautomated calling system software could be completely resident on anoperator's computer 200. This would eliminate the need for a separateautomated calling system which is accessed by the operator's computervia a network or the Internet.

As shown in FIG. 5, in this embodiment, an operator's computer 200 couldbe directly coupled to a PSTN. Alternatively, the operator's computer200 could be coupled to a switching device 205, and the switching devicecould be coupled to the PSTN. A display device 210 would be connected tothe computer 200. The display device would be used to display customercalling lists, and an operator could select particular customers using apointing device 230.

A telephony device 220, which could be in the form of a headset ortelephone, could be connected to the operator's computer 200.Alternatively, the telephony device 220 could take the form of amicrophone and one or more speakers that are connected to the operator'scomputer 200. The operator's computer 200 would utilize the callingsystem software to selectively connect the telephony device 220 totelephone lines of the PSTN This embodiment of the invention could alsoinclude a microphone 250 and an audio recorder/player 260 which are alsocoupled to the computer 200. This would allow the operator to recordaudio messages which are to be played to customers or a customer'sanswering service. The microphone 250 could be the same microphone whichforms part of the telephony device 220. Thus, the operator could use thetelephony device 220 to record audio messages that are to played tocustomers.

In an embodiment as shown in FIG. 5, the operator would instruct thecomputer 200 to place a telephone call to a customer via the PSTN. Thecomputer 200 would place the telephone call and then connect thetelephony device 220 to the line of the PSTN used to call the customer.All the various operations of the automated calling system would then besimilar to those described above.

An embodiment as shown in FIG. 5 could require a special switchingdevice to be resident within the operator's computer 200. Alternatively,a separate switching unit 205 capable of switching the telephony device220 and the audio recorder/player 260 to various telephone lines of thePSTN could be provided. An embodiment as shown in FIG. 5 could provide alower cost means for providing an operator with the automated callingfunctions.

The foregoing embodiments and advantages are merely exemplary and arenot to be construed as limiting the present invention. The presentteaching can be readily applied to other types of apparatuses. Thedescription of the present invention is intended to be illustrative, andnot to limit the scope of the claims. Many alternatives, modifications,and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. In theclaims, means-plus-function clauses are intended to cover the structuresdescribed herein as performing the recited function and not onlystructural equivalents but also equivalent structures.

1. An automated calling system, for allowing an operator to place aseries of telephone calls to a plurality of customers, wherein theoperator uses a telephony device to communicate with customers, thecalling system comprising: a switching device connected to a publicswitched telephone network, wherein the switching device is configuredto selectively connect the operator's telephony device to one of aplurality of telephone lines; and a processor coupled to and controllingthe switching device, wherein the processor is configured to: (a)automatically place a telephone call to a customer using a telephoneline, and to cause the switching device to connect the operator'stelephony device to the telephone line as the telephone call is beingplaced, in response to an operator's command selecting the customer; (b)automatically place a new telephone call to a new customer using a newtelephone line, and to cause the switching device to connect theoperator's telephony device to the new telephone line as the newtelephone call is being placed, in response to an operator's commandselecting the new customer, and (c) repeat (a) and (b) to allow theoperator to place a series of telephone calls to a plurality ofcustomers; wherein the operator can listen as the calls are placed sothat the operator can immediately talk to a customer if the customeranswers a call.
 2. The system of claim 1, further comprising an audiodevice configured to record and play audio recordings, wherein theprocessor is configured to cause the switching device to connect theaudio device to the telephone line and to cause the audio device to playa pre-recorded audio message over the telephone line.
 3. The system ofclaim 2, wherein the processor is configured so that, in response to anoperator command, the processor will cause the audio device to play apre-recorded audio message over the telephone line at the same time thatthe new telephone call is placed to the new customer over the newtelephone line such that the operator can speak with the new customerover the new telephone line at the same time the pre-recorded audiomessage is played over the telephone line.
 4. The system of claim 2,wherein the processor and audio device are configured so that if theoperator commands a pre-recorded audio message to be played over thetelephone line to a customer's answering service, the pre-recorded audiomessage is not played until a greeting generated by the customer'sanswering service has ended.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein theprocessor is configured to place a telephone call to the operator'stelephony device over the public switched telephone network, and whereinthe switching device is configured to connect to the operator'stelephony device to selected ones of the plurality of telephone linesusing the public switched telephone network.
 6. The system of claim 1,wherein the switching device and the operator's telephony device areconnected to a network, and wherein the switching device is configuredto connect the operator's telephony device to selected ones of theplurality of telephone lines via the network.
 7. A method for allowingan operator to conduct a series of customer telephone calls using acalling system, wherein the operator communicates with customers usingan operator telephony device that is selectively connected to aplurality of telephone lines of a public switched telephone network, themethod comprising: (a) automatically placing a telephone call to acustomer over a telephone line, and connecting the operator's telephonydevice to the telephone line as the telephone call is being placed sothat the operator can immediately talk to the customer if the customeranswers, in response to an operator command selecting the customer; (b)automatically placing a new telephone call to a new customer over a newtelephone line, and connecting the operator's telephony device to thenew telephone line as the new telephone call is being placed so that theoperator can immediately talk to the new customer if the new customeranswers, in response to an operator command selecting the new customer;(c) playing a pre-recorded audio message over the telephone line at thesame time the new telephone call is placed so that the pre-recordedaudio message is played over the telephone line at the same time theoperator is talking with the new customer over the new telephone line;(d) repeating (a)-(c) to allow the operator to place a series oftelephone calls to a plurality of customers.
 8. A computer readablemedium storing a set of instructions for a computer based calling systemconnected to multiple telephone lines of a public switched telephonenetwork, the instructions configuring the calling system to provide anoperator having a telephony device with automated calling functions,wherein the instructions configure the calling system to execute aseries of steps, comprising: (a) automatically calling a customer on atelephone line, and connecting the operator's telephony device to thetelephone line as the telephone call is being placed so that theoperator can immediately talk to the customer if the customer answersthe telephone call, in response to an operator command selecting thecustomer; (b) automatically calling a new customer on a new telephoneline, and connecting the operator's telephony device to the newtelephone line as the new telephone call is being placed so that theoperator can immediately talk to the new customer if the new customeranswers the telephone call, in response to an operator command selectingthe new customer; (c) playing a pre-recorded audio message over thetelephone line at the same time the new telephone call is placed so thatthe operator can talk to the new customer over the new telephone line atthe same time the audio message is played on the telephone line; and (d)repeating (a)-(c) to allow the operator place a series of telephonecalls to a plurality of customers.
 9. The computer readable medium ofclaim 8, wherein the instructions configure the calling system to placea telephone call to the operator's telephony device over the publicswitched telephone network, and wherein the instructions configure thecalling system to connect the operator's telephony device to selectedones of the plurality of telephone lines via the public switchedtelephone network.
 10. The computer readable medium of claim 8, whereinthe instructions configure the calling system to communicate with theoperator's telephony device over a network, and wherein the instructionsconfigure the calling system to connect the operator's telephony deviceto selected ones of the plurality of telephone lines via the network.11. An automated calling system, for allowing an operator to place aseries of telephone calls to a plurality of customers, wherein theoperator uses a telephony device to communicate with customers, thecalling system comprising: a switching device connected to a publicswitched telephone network, wherein the switching device is configuredto selectively connect the operator's telephony device to one of aplurality of telephone lines; and a processor coupled to and controllingthe switching device, wherein the processor is configured to: (a)automatically place a telephone call to a customer using a telephoneline, and to cause the switching device to connect the operator'stelephony device to the telephone line as the telephone call is beingplaced, in response to an operator's command selecting the customer; (b)play a pre-recorded message over the telephone line, in response to anoperator's command; (c) automatically place a new telephone call to anew customer using a new telephone line, and to cause the switchingdevice to connect the operator's telephony device to the new telephoneline as the new telephone call is being placed, in response to anoperator's command selecting the new customer; and (d) play apre-recorded message over the new telephone line, in response to anoperator's command to play the pre-recorded message over the newtelephone line; and (e) repeat (a) through (d) to allow the operator toplace a series of telephone calls to a plurality of customers; whereinthe operator can listen as the calls are placed so that the operator canimmediately talk to a customer if the customer answers a call.
 12. Thesystem of claim 11, wherein the processor is configured to allow theoperator to leave a personal message before making the command to playthe pre-recorded message over the telephone line or making the commandto play the pre-recorded message over the new telephone line.
 13. Anautomated calling system, for allowing an operator to place a series oftelephone calls to a plurality of customers, wherein the operator uses atelephony device connected to said calling system through a network orthe Internet to communicate with customers, the calling systemcomprising: a switching device configured to selectively connect theoperator's telephony device to one of a plurality of telephone lines;and a processor coupled to and controlling the switching device, whereinthe processor is configured to: (a) automatically place a telephone callto a customer using a telephone line, and to cause the switching deviceto connect the operator's telephony device to the telephone line as thetelephone call is being placed, in response to an operator's commandselecting the customer; (b) play a pre-recorded message over thetelephone line, in response to an operator's command; (c) automaticallyplace a new telephone call to a new customer using a new telephone line,and to cause the switching device to connect the operator's telephonydevice to the new telephone line as the new telephone call is beingplaced, in response to an operator's command selecting the new customer,and (d) play a pre-recorded message over the new telephone line, inresponse to an operator's command to play the pre-recorded message overthe new telephone line; and (e) repeat (a) through (d) to allow theoperator to place a series of telephone calls to a plurality ofcustomers; wherein the operator can listen as the calls are placed sothat the operator can immediately talk to a customer if the customeranswers a call.
 14. The system of claim 13, wherein said operatorcommands are made via a web interface.
 15. An automated calling system,for allowing an operator to place a series of telephone calls to aplurality of customers, wherein the operator uses a telephony device tocommunicate with customers, the calling system comprising: a switchingdevice configured to selectively connect the operator's telephony deviceto one of a plurality of telephony lines; and a processor coupled to andcontrolling the switching device, wherein the processor is configuredto: (a) automatically place a telephone call to a customer using atelephone line, and to cause the switching device to connect theoperator's telephony device to the telephone line as the telephone callis being placed, in response to an operator's command selecting thecustomer; (b) automatically place a new telephone call to a new customerusing a new telephone line, and to cause the switching device to connectthe operator's telephony device to the new telephone line as the newtelephone call is being placed, in response to an operator's commandselecting the new customer, and (c) repeat (a) and (b) to allow theoperator to place a series of telephone calls to a plurality ofcustomers; wherein the operator can listen as the calls are placed sothat the operator can immediately talk to a customer if the customeranswers a call.
 16. The system of claim 15, wherein the operator'stelephony device can be switched between any of said series of telephonecalls.
 17. An automated calling system, for allowing an operator toplace a series of calls to a plurality of customers, wherein theoperator uses a telephony device to communicate with customers, thecalling system comprising: a switching device configured to selectivelyconnect the operator's telephony device to one of a plurality oftelephone lines; and a processor coupled to and controlling theswitching device, wherein the processor is configured to: (a)automatically place a telephone call to a customer using a telephoneline, and to cause the switching device to connect the operator'stelephony device to the telephone line as the telephone call is beingplaced, in response to an operator's command selecting the customer; (b)automatically place a new telephone call to a new customer using a newtelephone line, and to cause the switching device to connect theoperator's telephony device to the new telephone line as the newtelephone call is being placed, in response to an operator's commandselecting the new customer; (c) repeat (a) and (b) to allow the operatorto place a series of telephone calls to a plurality of customers; (d)maintain a series of simultaneous links corresponding to said series oftelephone calls to a plurality of customers; and (e) switch saidoperator's telephony device between any of said series of telephonecalls; wherein the operator can listen as the calls are placed so thatthe operator can immediately talk to a customer if the customer answersa call.
 18. An automated calling system, for allowing an operator toplace a series of calls to a plurality of customers, wherein theoperator uses a telephony device to communicate with customers, thecalling system comprising: a switching device configured to selectivelyconnect the operator's telephony device to one of a plurality oftelephone lines; and a processor coupled to and controlling theswitching device, wherein the processor is configured to: (a) receive anoperator's command selecting a customer; (b) automatically place atelephone call to said customer using a telephone line; (c) switch theoperator's telephony device to the telephone line as the telephone callis being placed; (d) receive an operator's command selecting a newcustomer; (e) automatically place a new telephone call to said newcustomer using a new telephone line; (f) switch the operator's telephonydevice to the new telephone line as the new telephone call is beingplaced; and (g) repeat (a)-(f) to allow the operator to place a seriesof telephone calls to a plurality of customers; wherein the operator canlisten as the calls are placed so that the operator can immediately talkto a customer if the customer answers a call.